1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to interchangeable attachments for accessories; and more particularly, to interchangeable attachments for hair accessories including head bands, barrettes, and accessories such as hand bags and clutches, belts, and caps, having various designs, jeweled portions, LED illumination and/or reflective properties, and which are readily removably attached to a portion of an accessory such as a head band or other hair accessory, hand bag accessory, belt, and/or strap, to provide aesthetic appeal and versatility and/or to enhance visibility of the items with which they are associated, thereby providing interchangeability of style and/or increasing user safety while walking in the vicinity of land vehicles during dusk or nighttime hours.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exist certain occasions where one may wish to personalize accessory articles to suit individual style and taste. On other occasions one may desire to match or complement an outfit with accessory articles. Personalization of accessory articles presently requires the purchase of a plethora of accessory items having a variety of different colors and designs. Accumulation of the required accessory items is expensive and overcrowds closets. Changing one's look from daytime to evening oftentimes requires toting a myriad of different articles for changing. Frequently a woman desires to change-up her purse from a day bag to an evening bag, which not only necessitates carrying a separate evening bag, but additionally requires the switching-out of items from the day-bag to the evening bag, and vice versa when use of the day-bag is desired. Such switching processes are cumbersome, and can become overly obvious and awkward if others are present. Additionally, there are occasions such as when walking during dusk or nighttime hours, when safety precautions should be taken. Such activity can be hazardous in neighborhoods where automobiles are encountered. Illuminating characteristics of the automobile headlamps, generally afford an illumination range of approximately 25 to 50 feet. This illumination range can be significantly reduced by mist or fog, or bends in the road. Despite improvements to vehicle headlights, pedestrians are oftentimes not recognized by automobile drivers until the distance between the automobile and the pedestrian or pet is small. Children are particularly vulnerable to this danger when walking home from school or about the neighborhood, or playing near a busy thoroughfare.
Various decorative interchangeable accessories have been provided for hair and jewelry, however those heretofore known and utilized fail to provide an interchangeable article having an exterior surface adapted to receive an interchangeable attachment without having to manipulate the body of the article. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,316 to Klug discloses a decorative hair accessory kit with interchangeable decorations and a storage board. The kit includes a hair band, hair comb, barrette and a plurality of interchangeable decorations, including a storage board for the components. Hook and loop fastening material is adhesively attached to the display surface of the hair controlling device as well as the underneath surface of the decoration. Decorations are interchangeably attached to a hair band, barrette, and hair comb by means of the hook and loop fastening material. The accessory kit structure does not suggest a headband having a cover sheaf that receives an elongated interchangeable attachment adapted to cover substantially the entire show surface of the headband; U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,351 to Zeleny discloses an interchangeable jewelry accessory for accessorizing a setting-mounted gemstone. The accessory includes an ornament support base having an ornament support section and a setting-engaging clip section, which projects from the ornament support section. The ornament support section includes an ornament mount having at least one ornament mounted thereon. The interchangeable jewelry accessory does not provide for articles other than jewelry, and does not disclose or teach bags, purses, caps, hats, backpacks, clothing, and/or belts having a central section appointed to receive interchangeable attachments; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,542 to Shepard discloses an improved hair clip employing a pair of cooperating main members that are pivotally connected and biased into a hair engaging orientation. A mirror is removably attached to the first end of the first main member, and a cosmetics case is removably attached to the first end of the second main member. Attachment sleeves are removably attached to the main member middle portions. Each storage sleeve may be capped for storage of loose items or may accept one of several interchangeable accessory tubes. The hair clip is not structurally provided with interchangeable attachments that simply attach to the top or front fact of an article. Rather, interchangeable accessory tubes are used to change the look of the hair clip.
Other interchangeable accessories have been provided for clothing and shoes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,266 to Blackwelder discloses an accessories kit for allowing a user to coordinate a clothing accessory with a variety of outfits. The kit includes a clothing accessory and a plurality of decorative, interchangeable ornaments for securing the attachment to the exterior surface of the clothing accessory by a VELCRO™ fastener; U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,892 to Tisdale, et al. discloses clothing, specifically trousers and a shirt, which may be converted to shorts or a short sleeve shirt, respectively, using removably attached lower leg and lower sleeve portions. A plurality of interchangeable accessory pocket components are further provided which may be removably attached to the upper sleeve and leg portions allowing accessory items to be carried thereon regardless of which version of the pants or shirt is being used; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20090130954 to Maricevic et al. discloses a decorative bra strap design having an interchangeable bra strap/jewelry accessory. A semi-stretchable design based on a non-stretchable beading core is attached at one or both ends to a stretchable elastic section, which terminates in a jewelry-clasp type ending. The jewelry-clasp ending serves to attach to any kind of bras having interchangeable bra straps, or to a “strapless” bra with hook loops; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20090100714 to Coger discloses a footwear accessory system including a shoe having an exterior surface. The latter is appointed to receive an interchangeable article, including a contour that matches a contour of the exterior surface of the shoe; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 20090044430 to Philpott discloses a shoe wherein a user can change the color and/or style of a logo/trademark. Each shoe is equipped with a female receptacle which will engage with a predetermined male post locking the logo/trademark into place. These devices fail to provide an interchangeable accessory wherein an interchangeable attachment is removably secured to a central portion of the article.
Interchangeable accessories concerning handbags have been provided, however these devices require a significant portion of the handbag to be interchanged. This, in turn, requires the user to lug around large pieces that are interchangeable. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,424 to Angevine discloses an interchangeable handbag having a frame and an insert. The frame comprises a substantially rigid bottom panel, connected to a front section, a back section and two side sections. At least one insert, removably connected to the frame, has an openable top section to receive the contents of the handbag; U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,951 to Siegel discloses an interchangeable accessory system for organizer handbags. Multiple handbags have interchangeable components and accessories. A wallet, cosmetic case, key ring, address and note books and selected components are provided with attachment means that permit interchangeable accessories to be transferred from one handbag to another. Miche® Bag, found at http://www.michebag.com/pages/how-to discloses a bag base having front, bottom, and back walls appointed to receive a shell equipped with a magnetic attachment means. The attachment fully encompasses and covers the front, bottom, and back walls of the bag base to produce a different look for the bag. These disclosed hand bags require substantially the entire show surface of the bag to be interchangeable. As a result the user must carry a large interchangeable accessory which, in turn, can be cumbersome. In particular, these interchangeable bag structures are constructed so that the bag base and overlay are rigidly designed. The shell coverings are designed to cover substantially the entire show surface (i.e. all three sides of the bag base) and do not function as small overlays. Due to their substantial size and structure, the shells must be perfectly aligned with the existing frame. Such shell coverings completely change the exterior of the bag—refacing it on all three sides, rather than changing a fraction of the bag's show surface. These large obtuse shells are much too large to be carried within the bag itself. Moreover, their size prevents discrete modifications to the “look” of the bag by simply placing an overlay over a small section of the bag.
Modifications that enhance the aesthetic value of articles such as handbags, belts, caps, leashes, collars and the like have also been used to address safety issues. Several approaches devised by prior art workers attempt to provide solutions for safety concerns involving pedestrians and pets. These approaches include use of pet collars and leashes that are illuminated or reflective. None of these approaches suggests indicating the whereabouts of a pedestrian or providing interchangeability so that a safety feature such as an LED, electroluminescent lamp, fiber optics or material having reflective properties can be incorporated with an article at a specific time of the day to enhance visibility during dimly lit conditions. None of these approaches provides such safety features as decorative, reflective appliqués that removably attach to garments and accessories such as backpacks, hair bands, hats, purses, luggage, or the like.
Illuminated dog collars using LED's or other powered illumination means are known in the art. These power-illuminated leashes require batteries, light bulbs or other lighting elements, and are not provided as decorative, removable attachments. For examples, see: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,173,201; 4,513,692; 4,895,110; 4,887,552; 5,046,456; 5,140,946; 5,370,082; 5,429,075; 5,523,927; 5,535,106; 5,558,044; 5,630,382; 5,762,029; 5,850,807; 5,967,095; 6,170,968; 6,289,849; and 6,557,498. None of these power-illuminated leashes provides decorative, removable LED attachments and/or decorative reflective attachments. Dog collars, harnesses and leashes which include reflection capabilities are known in the art, but do not provide decorative features that include reflective properties. For examples, see: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,871,336; 3,999,521; and 4,167,156.
In addition to design elements and safety concerns, many individuals and children wish to create individualized accessories. Interchangeable attachments that temporarily alter the appearance of accessories such as belts, bags and backpacks, have not heretofore been proposed. Rather, the previously proposed designs to decorate such items require permanent application to the accessory. Further, many pet owners like to decorate their pets with jeweled collars and the like. Existing collars of this type include attachment mechanisms that limit personalization by the pet owner.
Some decorative devices for leashes have been provided, however these decorative devices do not have a plurality of decorative removable attachments. Accordingly, they do permit an individual to readily alter the decorative effect when such alteration or personalization of the decorative device is desired. For examples, see: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,363,809; 7,350,342; and 7,421,980.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct decorative belts, purses, handbags, hair accessories, baseball caps and/or accessories, there is a need in the art for interchangeable attachments that are removably secured in a manner which facilitates transformation of the article's exterior. Additionally, there is a need in the art for interchangeable attachments having a variety of design created by the introduction of LED's and/or reflective properties that are temporarily secured to a portion of a belt, purse, handbag, hair band, baseball cap and/or accessory, and which provide aesthetic appeal and enhanced visibility.